New figures from Just Group reveal that just one third of those aged between 43 and 58 believe they will be retired by the time they reach State Pension age.
Official figures show retirement ages have been rising for the last 25 years with men reaching an average age of 65.3 before they stop working and women reaching age 64.
However, Just Group suggested this figure could rise for Generation X, amid growing financial and personal pressures.
A third (35%) of those surveyed by Just Group said they are confident they will be able to retire by State Pension age but 38% believe they will have to work later and the remaining 27% are unsure.
The research found that women feel less confident about being able to retire by age 67 than men, with just 31% of women expecting to be able to stop working by this age, compared to 39% of men. Among those aged 43-48, only just over a quarter (27%) believe they will be able to retire by age 67, with 46% believing they will have to carry on working for longer.
Stephen Lowe, group communications director at Just Group, said it had coined the term “Generation Anxiety” to capture the financial, personal and lifestyle pressures faced by those in their 40s and 50s.
Lowe said: “This is the age group most at risk of falling into a pensions gap. Few will be able to rely on defined benefit pensions which provide more generous, guaranteed payments to many of the ‘baby boom’ generation that preceded them, while automatic enrolment into workplace pensions started too late to make much of a difference. State Pension age has also been pushed back through their working lives.”
Lowe said many will face pressures providing support for other family members such as ageing parents or helping adult children who are struggling financially.
“With this combination of demands on their purse, it is little surprise that so many of Gen X are expecting to have to keep working later in life.
“Within this group there are winners and losers. Nearly twice as many homeowners as renters expect to stop working at or before 67. Those who live in their own property at retirement do have the benefit of a financial asset they could fall back on if circumstances required later in retirement. But that’s assuming they have been able to pay off their mortgages which is by no means certain given the other financial pressures they have faced,” Lowe added.
